Tag Archives: Verification

Transformation is not complete until each task has been executed AND verified. Verify each task independently based on your same requirement statements. Verification planning and execution can easily eat up 60% of your transformation budget, so be careful. Verifying task outcomes is not necessarily about massive regression testing programs, but more about selectively performing the correct tests.

When you engage a business analyst to advise you on a transformation, what should you expect? What work will be performed and what tangible work products will you receive as the result of that work? That’s the next topic.

The implementation plan for a simple transformation consists of three phases: planning, execution and verification. The planning phase organizes, estimates, assigns, and monitors the tasks for putting your transformation project into action. The execution phase comprises the work of the change process, and the verification phase spans the work of the inspection process. Verification normally follows execution, which in turn follows planning. However, in complex projects much of the work can proceed concurrently if it is carefully staged.

Hang with me now, there are two more important steps: execution and verification. For the uninitiated that means doing the real work, and then proving you did it. This is why we say that business requirement statements must be both actionable and testable. Track these processes with a scorecard or dashboard that summarizes incremental completions for all your business requirements.

In summary, you should see that defining your business requirements leads to design, execution and verification of the work that will lead to transforming your business. Because the work is carefully specified, it can be finished and tested to the satisfaction of all your stakeholders.

In my next blog post, I’ll go into more detail about planning the execution and verification phases, as well as some pitfalls and pratfalls to avoid.